Small caps stay down
The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is in negative territory following news of a drop in U.S. consumer confidence.
At 12:10 a.m. ET, the small-cap index was down 0.17 points, or 0.02%, to 701.11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had shed 37.28 points, or 0.30%, to 12,511.36.
Small-cap stocks are in the red after briefly breaking into positive territory at about 11 a.m. ET.
The bears were empowered by news after the start of trading that U.S. consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in five years in March. The Conference Board reported that its index of consumer confidence fell to a level of 64.5 from an upwardly revised level of 76.4 in February.
Economists were expecting a smaller decline. The data add to fears that the U.S. economy is in recession.
“Consumers’ outlook for business conditions, the job market and their income prospects is quite pessimistic and suggests further weakening may be on the horizon,” Lynn Franco, the business organization’s research director, said in a statement.
Shares of gold and silver companies are currently the leading industry group. Among the winners is small-cap Endeavour Silver Corp. (AMEX:EXK), which develops precious metal properties in Mexico.
Similarly, shares of Toronto-based Western Goldfields, Inc. (AMEX:WGW) are also higher.
On the flip side, companies offering printing services are currently the worse performing industry group. The list of losers includes Sharonville, Ohio-based Multi-Color Corp. (Nasdaq:LABL), which supplies decorative label solutions and packaging services.
